I just couldn't put it off any longer. I've been wearing my old bras for over a year, and they would have been stretched out and useless even if I hadn't lost weight, but now they are truly sad, even a little deflated looking. So Monday night I hit the lingerie department at Dillard's (I'm too small for Lane Bryant anything now!) to buy 3 new bras and 10 pairs of new underwear. I've gone down two band sizes (to a 34) and back down to a regular large (size 7) underwear, and boy, does it feel great! (Yesterday I couldn't wait to get out of bed so I could wear my new bra--what a difference. I felt extra energized all day.)
While I was there, I checked out pants to replace my beige chinos that now gape horribly at the waist, and bought a pair of stone-colored linen pants by Calvin Klein at 75% off that fit me perfectly right now....and they're size 12! Yes, I know, insert vanity sizing/non-standardized women's clothing sizing disclaimer here, but still, that felt energizing. For good measure, I also got a pair of black slacks with purple pinstripes, different brand, also a size 12.
Monday and yesterday, I spent a lot of time sewing to alter my clothes, hemming both of my new pairs of pants and taking in 5 of my favorite Lane Bryant blouses that I love and don't want to have to get rid of. (God, I'm becoming such a girly-girl! But the health makeover has become my main hobby and now it's turning into a looks-makeover as well.)
At first I started this to improve my health. When I started out I was just over the obese threshhold (30.1 on the BMI calculator) and realized I had to do something about it or else be at high risk of diabetes, heart disease, etc. Now, at 32 pounds down, my BMI is 24.9, just under the overweight threshhold. I am now officially a minority, the 1 out of 3 American adults who is not overweight or obese! These last 12 pounds are completely for vanity, baby. And vanity as motivator is sure working for me these days.
About Me
- Karinderella
- I'm a pianist, happily married. Socially progressive, chocolate lover, interested in the nature of reality, alternates between being a slacker and being a grind.
1 comment:
Hey Karin! Yes, having clothes that actually fit you (that you're not swimming in) can make you feel energized and renewed, if only because you're not flapping around with extra fabric that you don't need!
I would caution you (and anyone else reading this) to not base your assessments of health solely (or even primarily) on the BMI index. The silly thing about that is (as I'm sure you know) that it does NOT take muscle mass - or any other health indicators, for that matter- into account.
The day that the FDA implemented the BMI scale, several professional athletes - I think they mentioned WNBA players - went from being in peak athletic condition one day to being labeled "obese" by the BMI standards the next simply because of their weight.
Although many of us DO have body fat to lose, BMI is really an inaccurate measure of health because it doesn't take things into account. For example, when I weighed 200 pounds, a number most people (especially women) would gasp and cringe at, I was a size 12 pants 14 shirt. This is because I've always had a lot of muscle mass. At my thinnest, while lifeguarding after high school, I got down to 145-150lbs and was still only a size 8-10.
In fact, on my current weight loss journey, my goal is not anywhere NEAR the numbers the BMI scale says I should be, because to get there I'd have to lose lots of muscle weight. That just doesn't make any sense to me. But if I do get there, I'll be down to a size 14-16, which is just fine with me. After all, as you know, beauty is not a size!
More importantly - and I think this is a HUGE omission on the part of the FDA and the Nat'l. Inst. of Health - there are SO many factors other than weight that contribute to heart disease and diabetes, like diet, exercise, muscle mass, genetics, lifestyle, and stress management. There are many of us who may even be significantly overweight who are *not* diabetic, have completely normal blood sugar, show great cholesterol readings, ever decreasing blood pressure, are active and flexible, and who have lots of energy. Conversely, there are a lot of people out there who are not overweight - skinny even - who have the very same problems that the FDA wants to pin on being overweight.
A great book I read on the subject of the demonization of overweight is "The Obesity Myth", a whistle-blower that reveals how the studies on obesity were skewed to further the sales pharmaceutical industry's weight loss medications; and how these studies are often subsidized and/or fully funded by the multi-billion dollar diet industry. It's quite revealing - just a lot of studies and statistics and then quotes on how the FDA/NIH projected that information to the public to serve their best interests. It's difficult to know who to trust.
So the best thing you can do is to visit your doctor and get YOUR particular readings done often - at least once a year. Get your cholesterol read, your blood sugar tested, your blood pressure taken. Stay active and flexible and manage your stress well. Of course ideally we'd all be thinner, and I'm not saying that many people in our country who are overweight are NOT suffering from weight-related problems. I'm just saying that being overweight, in and of itself, should NOT be the only factor in determining one's health.
Having said that, I think it's really great that you have lost this weight, if for the only reason that you feel better both physically and, as you yourself said, vanity-wise. :) You should always celebrate that, at ANY size! Remember that beauty is an attitude, not a size!
XO Darcy
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